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Early Retirement May Speed Up Cognitive Decline: Study

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Re: Early Retirement May Speed Up Cognitive Decline: Study

#91

Post by hinkley »

basch wrote: post #72
monster_group wrote: post #9

Not only early retirement but any kind of retirement that gets the retiree in a mode that they don't have to try anymore will result in cognitive decline. I am seeing this in my dad who has been retired for ten years now. Throughout his work life he was a sharp hard working banker. Now he uses his age and retirement as an excuse for not trying. Just yesterday he wanted me to order something for him from Amazon. I tol…

I have noticed the same thing, but not from age, instead I attribute it to ux/ui. People used to know how to type a url into an address bar. If they didnt type it correctly it didnt work. They knew how to type an email address. Now for the life of people, its actually uncomfortable to type example.com without a space into an address bar and go directly to a site and not to google. They purposely put a space between t…

> I say "your" civilization because as soon as we started thinking for you, it became our civilization.

But the question shouldn't be, "are new interfaces making us dumber?", it should be "what are we doing with this cognitive surplus?"

If you aren't putting that surplus energy somewhere then it'll begin to go away, retired or not.

Re: Early Retirement May Speed Up Cognitive Decline: Study

#92

Post by pbhjpbhj »

ruminasean wrote: post #25

My experience with both my parents was "I retired and I don't want to use my brain anymore," and they have both definitely experienced decline since retirement. Some of my friends' parents, however, have adopted more of a "I'm retired and now I can dedicate all my brainpower to these special projects I've always wanted to focus my energy on." These people have mostly declined not at all or very little. I think the an…

Consider that the reason they don't want to use their brains is that they don't seem to work effectively, but they don't want to admit they have some cognitive decline.

Like not wanting to go to a social function because you find them hard, one might say "I'm tired" or offer some other excuse because putting your failing on show is difficult too, the moreso when you're already smarting from a knock-back (being confronted with another failure).

Re: Early Retirement May Speed Up Cognitive Decline: Study

#93

Post by HenryKissinger »

jodrellblank wrote: post #73
cft wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People's cognitive decline statistically starts as early as 40. You can see that from the age distribution of biggest discoveries in physics and mathematics. You can also see that from the HR policies of the software companies.

And maybe a lot earlier than that; > researchers have discovered that Alzheimer’s Disease is preceded by DECADES of gradually worsening glucose hypometabolism. > Brain glucose metabolism can be reduced by as much as 25% long before any memory problems become obvious. As a psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of college students, I find it positively chilling that scientists have found evidence of glucose hyp…

As a man in my mid twenties, should I ask my doctor to check if I have glucose hypometabolism?

Re: Early Retirement May Speed Up Cognitive Decline: Study

#94

Post by ronilan »

cortesoft wrote: post #86
basch wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have noticed the same thing, but not from age, instead I attribute it to ux/ui. People used to know how to type a url into an address bar. If they didnt type it correctly it didnt work. They knew how to type an email address. Now for the life of people, its actually uncomfortable to type example.com without a space into an address bar and go directly to a site and not to google. They purposely put a space between t…

I am a senior software engineer and I do the "google instead of type the domain name" thing intentionally every time... I want to be sure I don't mistype the domain. It is not semi-unconscious... it is very much intentional.

Obviously.

That’s the first thing you teach kids when the start browsing by themselves.

Google provides a security layer over the brand-domain pair.

Google profits handsomely from this service but it is invaluable nonetheless.

Re: Early Retirement May Speed Up Cognitive Decline: Study

#95

Post by hinkley »

cortesoft wrote: post #86
basch wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have noticed the same thing, but not from age, instead I attribute it to ux/ui. People used to know how to type a url into an address bar. If they didnt type it correctly it didnt work. They knew how to type an email address. Now for the life of people, its actually uncomfortable to type example.com without a space into an address bar and go directly to a site and not to google. They purposely put a space between t…

I am a senior software engineer and I do the "google instead of type the domain name" thing intentionally every time... I want to be sure I don't mistype the domain. It is not semi-unconscious... it is very much intentional.

When I figured out that address bar autocomplete could look for matches in bookmarks, it started to change how I interact with internal tools at work. I still like to have a wiki page with all of the links for a subject area, but I'm as likely to start typing the name into my address bar and seeing what pops up.

Re: Early Retirement May Speed Up Cognitive Decline: Study

#96

Post by brownbat »

monster_group wrote: post #9

Not only early retirement but any kind of retirement that gets the retiree in a mode that they don't have to try anymore will result in cognitive decline. I am seeing this in my dad who has been retired for ten years now. Throughout his work life he was a sharp hard working banker. Now he uses his age and retirement as an excuse for not trying. Just yesterday he wanted me to order something for him from Amazon. I tol…

> His response was - I am retired now and there's nobody to tell me or teach me.

There's something prescient here. I can't count how many times a day just being surrounded other people I've seen them do or use something slightly more efficient than the way I would do it, and have integrated it into my workflow.

Isolation may be a factor in cognitive decline, we absorb a ton through fleeting social interactions.

Re: Early Retirement May Speed Up Cognitive Decline: Study

#97

Post by UncleOxidant »

monster_group wrote: post #9

Not only early retirement but any kind of retirement that gets the retiree in a mode that they don't have to try anymore will result in cognitive decline. I am seeing this in my dad who has been retired for ten years now. Throughout his work life he was a sharp hard working banker. Now he uses his age and retirement as an excuse for not trying. Just yesterday he wanted me to order something for him from Amazon. I tol…

Not sure I buy this blanket statement. My dad learned how to use Linux in his retirement.

Re: Early Retirement May Speed Up Cognitive Decline: Study

#98

Post by chiefalchemist »

While there are certainly degenerative diseases, "use it, or lose it" also holds true for the brain. And whether it's TV or Facebook, junk food is junk food.

The mind is no different than the body. In fact, the mind is probably more sensitive to neglect.

Re: Early Retirement May Speed Up Cognitive Decline: Study

#100

Post by pbhjpbhj »

tempsy wrote: post #71

Yeah I'm on a few months break from working and the most unexpected downside is the uptick in existential dread I've experienced.

I'll anti-anecdote that. I've just started working a steady office job again after a 15 year "break" (mostly non-office work; raising kids) and existential dread is eating me. I had a couple of months interim and despite being dirt-poor in that time (no income practically) had no dread at all; too little time to get existential!
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